Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. Published
by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago. Reprinted by Southern Historical
Press. p. 81. Montgomery County.
BELVARD JANUARY PETERS, ex-chief justice of the court of appeals, the
oldest representative of the bar of Kentucky and for many years one of it
most distinguished members, was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, on the
3d of November, 1805. Some years since he retired from active practice,
but few lawyers have made a more lasting impression upon the bar of the
state, both for legal ability of a high order and for the individuality of
a personal character, which impresses itself upon a community. Of a family
conspicuous for strong intellects, indomitable courage and energy, he
entered upon his career as a lawyer, and such was his force of character
and natural qualifications that he overcame all obstacles and wrote his
name upon the keystone of the legal arch.
His ancestral history is connected with Scotland, whence his
grandfather, John Peters, in early colonial days, crossed the Atlantic to
America, accompanied by his brother, who settled in Pennsylvania, while
John took up his residence in Virginia. The maternal great-grandfather
of Judge Peters, Captain John Ashby, was descended from English ancestors
who came to America immediately after the English revolution of the
seventeenth century and the desposition of King Charles I,--Edward Ashby,
the first emigrant, having been an officer in that sovereign's army and
called a cavalier. In 1774 Captain John Ashby came to Kentucky and
entered twenty-six hundred acres of land in Woodford county, receiving the
same as bounty for services in Braddock's war. In the division of his
possessions, according to the terms of his will, he left a farm to William
Peters, who located thereon in 1809.
Judge Peters of this review was then a child of four years, and on
that old home place he was reared to manhood. His education was obtained
in the common schools of Woodford county and in a celebrated institution
of learning on that day known as Buck Pond Academy and conducted by Dr.
Lewis Marshall, father of Thomas F. Marshall and a brother of Chief
Justice John Marshall of the United States supreme court. There Judge
Peters prepared for college and entered the sophomore class of
Transylvania University, at Lexington, where he was graduated three years
later, with the class of 1825. Many of his classmates afterward attained
prominence in state or nation, including Jefferson Davis, president of the
Confederacy; Hon. George W. Jones, of Dubuque, Iowa, United States senator
from the state, and, with the exception of the Judge, now the only member
of the class living, 1896; United States Senator D. L. Atchison of
Missouri; W. A. Henry, known as the "eagle orator of Tennessee," a lawyer
of great prominence in that state and a senator in the Confederate
congress.
After the completion of his literary education Judge Peters was sent
by his father to the home of Chief Justice John Boyle of Kentucky, to read
law under the supervision of that able jurist in Mercer county, Kentucky,
and in February, 1827, was admitted to the bar of Kentucky. Almost seventy
years have passed since he began practice in Owingsville, Bath county, and
today this venerable man is living--honored by all--while upon the judicial
history of the state the impress of his individuality is ineffaceable. He
soon gained a high reputation and a lucrative practice, and continued in
Owingsville until 1834, when he removed to Mt. Sterling, where he has since
made his home. Here he was soon established in a good business, and at the
same time he continued practice in Owingsville. In 1829 he was elected by
the county court of Bath county to the position of county attorney, and in
1833 was elected to the same office by the county court of Montgomery
county. For fifteen years he occupied both positions, and then resigned
the office in Bath county, but retained the incumbency in Montgomery county
until 1845, when he also resigned that place in order to accept the
nomination of his district for the legislature, to which he was elected on
the Democratic ticket, although the county had been a Whig stronghold
previous to that time. In the general assembly session of 1845-6 he was
chairman of the committee on morals and served on other important
committees. At the close of his term he was tendered a renomination by
both political parties, but declined the candidacy, preferring to pursue
the practice of his profession as more congenial and profitable.
The next office to which Judge Peters was called was that of clerk
of the circuit court of Montgomery county, in which capacity he served
for four years,--to his own financial detriment. He declined a
renomination and once more resumed private practice. In 1851 he was an
independent candidate for the position of circuit judge, but was defeated.
In 1860 he was nominated by the Democracy for the office of judge of the
court of appeals and was elected, having a majority of twelve hundred and
ninety-three in his district, which at the election of the year before
had given a majority of two thousand against the Democratic nominee for
governor. He remained on the bench of the highest court of his state
until 1876, and during the last two years of his service was chief
justice the second time. Having passed his seventieth year at the time
of his retirement from office, he declined a re-election with the
intention of laying aside all professional care, but on his return to his
home in Mt. Sterling he found that many of his old clients still desired
him to act as their legal adviser, and for some time he continued to
practice at the bar of his district. The last suit with which he was
connected was a case in 1894, wherein he represented Mrs. Ann Magowan
Brooks in the circuit court of Montgomery county.
In 1831 Judge Peters was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Farrow,
daughter of Kenaz Farrow, a lawyer of note, who served as judge of
Montgomery county, and was a representative of a prominent family of
Virginia. Her mother belonged to the French family which furnished to the
Kentucky bar some of its most illustrious members, including James French,
judge of the quarterly court. Her grandmother was a sister of the
Calloway girls, whose capture by the Indians in Kentucky has become a
matter of history. Mrs. Peters died June 18, 1894, after nearly
sixty-three years of happy married life, forty-eight years being passed
in the house now occupied by the Judge. They had no children, and Judge
Peters is still living (1897) on his home farm with his nephews.
In May, 1833, after reading the arguments of Alexander Campbell in
favor of its doctrines, he joined the Christian church, and for sixty-three
years has been one of its most faithful members, while for many years he
served as an elder in the church. It is seldom that one attains the
venerable age reached by Judge Peters, and the reverence and respect given
him is the fitting reward of a life that has been almost blameless in its
devotion to all duties, whether of a public or private nature. His career
on the bench added new honor to the high reputation which the bar of
Kentucky sustains; in matters of home, church or state, he has ever been
true and honorable; and long after he shall have passed away his memory
will be cherished and his influence will remain as a blessed benediction
to those who knew him.
Peters Ashby Marshall Davis Jones Atchison Henry Boyle Farrow
Brooks Calloway French
=
Woodford-KY Fayette-KY Bath-KY Mercer-KY Fauquier-VA MO TN IA
PA Scotland
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/montgomery/peters.bj.txt